Nicole Graev, an assistant to the editor at a publishing house, needs to know if her job as an assistant is actually an educational career step or a waste of time. The things she's been doing as an assistant—answering phones, faxing—is entirely different than the skills she needs for the job she really wants: her boss's. She talks to several people who've held the job before her to see if they can help her figure out where she is on the map of her life. (16 minutes)
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Act One: Started From Phle-Bottom, Now We’re Here
When Adele wrote into our show last summer, she described herself as “the worst phlebotomist in the whole hospital.” Producer Diane Wu couldn’t resist calling her up to find out exactly what she meant by that.
Act One: Grime Scene
Reporter Nancy Updike spends two days with Neal Smither, who cleans up crime scenes for a living, and comes away wanting to open his Los Angeles franchise, despite the gore — or maybe because of it.
Act Two: Phone Home
Seth Freed Wessler reports on people going the opposite direction over the US/Mexico border.
